SAN FRANCISCO — There was one question that loomed over the Giants following their acquisition of three-time All-Star Rafael Devers in a stunning trade: Where would he play?

On Tuesday, Devers provided the answer.

“They’re the men in charge,” Devers said through team interpreter Erwin Higueros during Tuesday’s press conference. “I’m here to play wherever they want me to play.”

That includes first base, a position Devers has never played in the majors or minors. Devers hit third and was the Giants’ designated hitter in his debut Tuesday against the Cleveland Guardians, but manager Bob Melvin said Devers will see time at first base. Prior to Tuesday’s game, Devers took grounders at first alongside Dominic Smith.

Devers’ willingness to play first is a clear departure from his stance with the Boston Red Sox.

Tensions between Devers and the Red Sox arose after the team signed fellow third baseman Alex Bregman in February. Devers, who signed a 10-year, $313.5 million extension with Boston in January 2023, initially refused to move off third base, a position he played his entire career. He later relented to accommodate Bregman, a Gold Glover, and transitioned to DH.

Devers’ relationship with Boston further deteriorated in May after first baseman Triston Casas suffered a season-ending injury. The team asked Devers to play first base, but Devers publicly declined.

Regarding the end of his Boston tenure, Devers said he’s “moving forward” and “that’s in the past.” When asked what changed regarding his willingness to play first, Devers said “this is a new organization.” Despite how things ended in Boston, Melvin said he “didn’t expect any different” of Devers’ willingness to play first.

“He came in and said I’ll do whatever you ask me to do,” Melvin said. “If I told him he was playing first base tonight, he’d play first base tonight. He couldn’t have been more all in on whatever we need. Obviously, he hasn’t played in the field this year so we’re going to take our time with it. But he’s open for anything.”

Devers’ responsibilities will not include third base, a position where he has accrued -62 defensive runs saved over 951 games in the majors.

Third baseman Matt Chapman, a five-time Gold Glover, is currently on the 10-day injured list with right hand inflammation and should begin rehab activities until later this week. Casey Schmitt has excelled as Chapman’s replacement, going 7-for-20 (.350) with three homers and 11 RBIs. This past weekend, Schmitt became the first Giant to hit grand slams in back-to-back games, though one was against Dodgers position player Kike Hernández.

Despite Chapman’s absence, Melvin said Devers — who has not played the field this year — will not play third in the interim.

“I don’t want to move him around too much,” Melvin said. “He hasn’t played any defense this year. To put him at third for a couple of weeks, then move him over to first and DH him, I don’t think that’s a great idea. Casey’s good at third. We’re comfortable with that. I’m trying to minimize the positions that we have to make him play.”

When Melvin was asked about Devers playing at third if the matchup warranted it, Melvin said, “I don’t want to put him over at third.”

“(Christian) Koss can play over there. If I had to run (Tyler Fitzgerald) over there, I’d do that,” Melvin said. “First base and DH is what we’re looking at from him.”

Melvin said during the press conference “if you can play third, you can play first,” adding that he doesn’t think the transition will be too difficult for Devers. Guardians manager Stephen Vogt, who played under Melvin with the Oakland A’s, provided perspective on the difficulty of playing first.

“First base is extremely difficult. It gets downplayed. ... There’s a lot more to playing first base than people think,” Vogt said.

The arrival of Devers will directly impact the playing time of Wilmer Flores, who has been an integral part of San Francisco’s lineup. Entering Tuesday, Flores leads the Giants with 51 RBIs. Flores, limited last season by a right knee injury that required a season-ending Tenex procedure, also owns a team-high 1.012 OPS with runners in scoring position and has orchestrated two walk-off wins.

Melvin said the addition of Devers will impact Flores’ opportunities “a little bit,” assessing that there will be days when Devers plays first and Flores — who wasn’t in Tuesday’s lineup — will DH. Dominic Smith, currently posting a .919 OPS with the Giants, should see time at first base as well.

“I’m going to be able to have a guy coming off the bench that’s pretty impactful as far as pinch hitting, whether it’s Dominic or Flo — and Flo’s been great at that,” Melvin said. “Takes a little bit more off of Flo’s plate. We’ve been playing him a lot.”

There’s also the matter of top prospect Bryce Eldridge, who also plays first base, to consider further down the line. President of baseball operations Buster Posey said Eldridge will continue playing first base with Triple-A Sacramento. Posey shared that he and Devers have already had conversations regarding Eldridge, who is currently hitting .143 over 11 games with the River Cats.

Regardless of how much time Devers plays at first, the majority — if not all — of his value will derive from his bat.

Devers enters his tenure in San Francisco as a two-time Silver Slugger and three-time All-Star with 215 home runs and a career .859 OPS. Before being traded, Devers was posting the second-best OPS of his career (.905) with 15 home runs and 56 walks, the most in the American League.

On three occasions, Devers has hit at least 30 home runs in a single season, something that hasn’t been done by a Giant since Barry Bonds in 2004. Bonds, appropriately enough, was sitting front and center for the press conference.

“Great players have the ability to transcend generations,” Posey said, “and Rafael Devers is one of those players.”

Devers’ services won’t come cheaply. Along with sending over four players — left-hander Kyle Harrison; right-handers Jordan Hicks and Jose Bello; and outfielder James Tibbs III — the Giants are on the hook for the roughly $250 million remaining on Devers’ contract. It’s an acquisition that comes after the Giants have made nine-figure commitments to Willy Adames, Chapman and Jung Hoo Lee.

To the Giants, Devers is worth the price.

“That certainly is always a concern when you lock up that much payroll over a longer period,” said Giants chairman Greg Johnson, “but it’s also outweighed by getting the core group together for that period and getting the kind of player. It kind of eases that concern. To us, to put it in baseball terms, you look for your pitch. To our group, this was like a hanging slider. It was too good of an opportunity.”

Verlander RETURNS

Right-hander Justin Verlander is scheduled to start tonight against the Guardians after missing a month due to right pectoral soreness.

“It feels exciting,” Verlander said.

“I’ve been pretty anxious wanting to pitch. I feel like things were starting to trend in the right direction and, hopefully, I can pick up where I left off.”

Melvin said Verlander’s pitch count will be in the 80-pitch range.